Introduction
Ukraine became a socialist republic in 1919 after the civil war tore the Russian Empire apart. The country was one of the founding members of the USSR in 1922. The history of the socialist Ukraine is full of dramatic events and deeply entwined with other countries of the Eastern Bloc.
Transforming Into a Socialist State
Ukraine became a socialist republic in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917. After the Petrograd uprising, the Bolshevik government instigated a rebellion in Kiev. That resulted in the civil war in Ukraine itself between the nationalists, the Bolsheviks, and the foreign intervention forces. The chaos continued until the end of the Soviet-Polish war and the signing of the Peace of Riga in 1921. At that point Ukraine finally became a socialist republic, as most of the resistance forces, including foreign armies, anarchists and nationalists were rooted out by the Communist government. During its early years as a part of the newly formed USSR, Ukraine thrived. The educational programs carried out by the government increased literacy levels and promoted urbanization with more people moving into the cities from their rural homeland.
That time was also marked by the flourishing of the Ukrainian national culture. The support of the central government helped promote national arts. That period lasted until the late 1920s. With Stalin rising to power, the industrialization began. It was aimed at increasing the production of the USSR by any means necessary. In 1929 the forced collectivization started across the USSR. Ukraine also was subjected to the reforms which included forced confiscation of land and possessions of the peasantry for use in the kolkhozes – government-ruled collective farms used to centralize peasant labor. The results of collectivization and the related reforms were especially dire in Ukraine. The country was swept by the widespread famine, as individual and kolkhoz-owned food stocks were confiscated by the secret police called NKVD. The event became known as Holodomor and reportedly took lives of more than 10 million people across Ukraine. It was aimed to cow Ukranian peasants into submission and to prevent the nationalist movement from causing any unrest (Bilinsky, 1999).
Ukraine During the Second World War
During the Second World War, the territory of Ukraine became a part of the Eastern Front. The heavy fighting devastated the country. First, the Soviet troops retreating through Ukraine used the scorched earth strategy to stall the German advance. Soon after, the Nazi troops pillaged all that was left. Ukrainian nationalists saw the German occupation as another chance to reclaim freedom for their country as they viewed the Soviet regime as oppressive and unjust, especially after the Holodomor. The long-time leader of the nationalists Stepan Bandera led the Ukrainian Insurgent Army first against the Germans, then against the Soviets in hopes of creating a truly independent government. However, their methods were more than questionable, as some of their activities included ethnic cleansing of the Poles and attempts to collaborate with the German occupational forces.
Ukraine During the Cold War Era
After the war, Ukraine remained a part of the USSR becoming a member of the Warsaw pact in 1955. The cold war era was peaceful for the country. However, Ukraine remained an important strategic area for the USSR. The city of Dnepropetrovsk housed the largest missile factory in the Union, which prompted the KGB to close the access to the place for foreigners. On the other hand, Lviv in the Western Ukraine was one of the most open cities in the country, full of foreign tourists and black markets where foreigners peddled forbidden goods (Zhuk, 2008).
The Chernobyl Disaster
One of the most dramatic events in the history of Ukraine and the USSR as a whole took place towards the end of the socialist era. On the 26th of April, 1986 the Chernobyl atomic power plant suffered an explosion of unknown origin. The blast heavily damaged the reactor building and destroyed the reactor itself sending a large amount of the radioactive elements into the atmosphere. The catastrophe caused the radioactive fallout across the Eastern Europe and endangered a large part of the Western Europe as well. It poisoned large areas in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus. The effects of the radiation are still felt today as some of the isotopes continue to poison the land. A lot of people gave their lives to stop the leak and prevent further poisoning of the environment. After the incident many foreign leaders saw the Soviet government as incompetent and in need of reformation. The event had an adverse effect on the nuclear industry and the politics of the USSR, causing the acceleration in the reforms.
The End of the USSR
The democratization of Ukraine started with the implementation of the first perestroika and glasnost policies by Gorbachev in 1985. During the late 1980s, the USSR saw a slow transition from the planned economy and autocratic socialist rule to democracy and free market economy. The changes started with the replacements in the government. The old hardliners of the Brezhnev era were substituted with new more open-minded politicians. After the Chernobyl accident and a sharp drop in oil prices the reformation was hastened. New economic rules were implemented, introducing elements of the free market economy. The glasnost policy ended the state censorship and led to the creation of various independently printed oppositional magazines and newspapers. By 1989, it became evident to the Soviet leaders that they were failing. None of the reforms impacted the economy positively and the stagnation was growing deeper and deeper. At that point, the massive political reforms started. For the first time in its history, the USSR saw freely nominated parliamentary candidates. The changes, however, ultimately spelled the end of the Union. In 1991 Gorbachev resigned from his post of the president of the USSR and the next day, USSR ceased to exist and was replaced by the CIS – a union of independent democratic states.
Perestroika and the 1990s
During the perestroika era, the change in Ukraine moved slowly. The country was ruled by an old-time hardliner communist Volodymyr Shcherbytsky. He resigned only after the reforms reached their peak in 1989 and effectively prevented perestroika from reaching Ukraine. By 1990, 90% of the enterprises were still state-owned. That caused a lot of displeasure and contributed to the country breaking away from Russia with the independence referendum of the 1991 (Magosci, 1996). That year marked the end of the Soviet era. Ukraine became a fully independent democratic state. However, the stagnation of the late 1980s was not so easily reverted. All of the former Soviet states suffered a major economic crisis in the early 1990s. Ukraine saw a sharp drop in the GDP, losing 60% by the 1999 (International Monetary Fund, 2007). That was caused by the extortionist tax rates and slow privatization rates which were caused by the corrupt politicians of the early 1990s. The country experienced its fair share of civil unrest and protests in that time. Interestingly, a large part of the economic trouble in the country is attributed to the widespread anti-Russian sentiment which caused the Ukranian government to be reluctant about radical economic reforms, as Russia followed that route (Aslund, 1995). The situation stabilized by the 2000s after the criminal factions were mostly ousted from the government and the necessary economic changes were complete.
Ukraine in the 21st Century
Since the year 2000, Ukraine has seen two revolutions and is still in the state of civil war. These conflicts are related to the split between the Western and the Eastern Ukraine which has existed since the middle ages. In the Soviet era, the western parts of the country were more liberal and open to the foreigners while the eastern regions were secluded and closely guarded by the government due to their strategic importance. After the disintegration of the USSR, most of the country was united by the anti-Russian sentiment. That has faded over time, and east and west returned to their respective allegiances. In 2004, the bloodless Orange Revolution deposed the pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych in favor of a pro-Western coalition led by Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Timoshenko. After a series of economic crisis in the 2004-2009 and the disputes with Russia, Yanukovich returned to power in 2010.
However, the unrest continued in 2014, as Yanukovich broke the Europe integration deal almost sealed by the Ukranian government with the EU. The shift towards pro-Russian policies aggravated the nationalist movement and instigated the uprising which became known as Euromaidan. This revolution was bloody and mired in controversy as the power was seized from Yanukovich, who had to flee the country and move into Russia for protection. The following election was won by the magnate Petro Poroshenko. In the aftermath of the revolution, the cities of Donetsk and Lugansk in the east rebelled against the new regime and Russia annexed, or according to the Russian point of view “reclaimed”, the Crimean peninsula. The separatist movement in the east is supposedly supported by Russia. The fighting between the Ukrainian army and the pro-Russian militants continues to this day. That remains the most serious crisis for the government.
International Economic Support
Economically, the Ukrainian state is highly volatile at the moment. With the civil war going and the Corruption Perception Index labeling Ukraine the most corrupt state in Europe, it is not surprising that the national currency is dropping, and the economy is slowing down. However, the country is closely monitored by the international organizations like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The main focus of the collaborative work with the World Bank, the EU, and the UN is stopping the conflict in the East. The programs include the military aid, the monitoring the situation, and ensuring the agreements reached between the government and the rebels are enacted. The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery under the World Bank plans for the reconstruction and peacebuilding in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions (Rahman, 2014). At the same time, the IMF monitors the economic state of the state as a whole and advises the Ukrainian government on the existing issues.
Conclusion
The Soviet era left its mark on Ukraine. The population still remembers the rule of the USSR, all of the failing and successes of that period. The divide between the west and the east of the country which was strengthened by the communist administration resulted in a recent civil war. However, presently the country is following the route of democracy and free market economy. There are a lot of problems, but the Ukrainian government is working with the international organizations seeking to solve them and bring economic and social stability to the restless country.
References
Aslund, A. (1995). Eurasia Letter: Ukraine’s Turnaround. Foreign Policy 100, 125-143.
Bilinsky, Y. (1999). Was the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933 Genocide? Journal of Genocide Research 1(2), 147-156.
International Monetary Fund. (2007).World Economic Outlook Database.Web.
Magocsi, P. (2010). A history of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
Rahman, S. (2014). Shaping Ukraine’s Recovery.Web.
Zhuk, S. (2008). Religion, “Westernization,” and Youth in the “Closed City” of Soviet Ukraine, 1964-84. Russian Review 67(4), 661-679.